I don’t even wait for him to leave before I rev up the engine, feeling the earth tremor beneath me. I know he can feel it, too, but he doesn’t move a muscle.
Grinding the gear into place, I make a sweeping arc around him, hoping he gets a good pelting by the discarded wheat stems. Sheriff needs to keep his nose out of this if he knows what’s good for him. Whatever made Jimmy do it, it’s strong enough to stop Sheriff in his tracks. That much I’m sure of.
The Devil is here.
Sheriff Ely doesn’t know it yet, but he needs saving, too.
28
MONDAY MORNING rolls around and I can’t even imagine the spectacle of what today will bring at Midland High—news cameras will probably be set up everywhere, people crying, talking about what a great guy Jimmy was.
But as I pull into the lot, I’m stunned to see it looks just like any other day. No cameras, no armbands, no tears. The only difference is there’s one less set of eyes staring at me from Tyler’s dickmobile.
I turn off the engine and glance down at my hands. I can’t stop thinking about them around Jimmy’s throat. I might’ve done it, too—killed him right then and there if they hadn’t pulled me off of him. So if the Preservation Society had something to do with his death, why’d they stop me?
Dale backs up against my window, his arms wrapped around himself pretending to make out with someone. “Oh, Clay, don’t stop. You’re such a big strong man, Clay.”
I open the door, jabbing into his body, making him stagger forward.
“Real funny,” I say as I grab my backpack.
“Why didn’t you call me back?” he asks.
“If this is about Jimmy Doogan, I don’t know anything—”
“Forget Jimmy Doogan.”
I look at him sharply.
“What? He was a little prick. But that’s a pretty gnarly way to kill yourself.”
“How’d you know he killed himself?”
He shakes his head. “Dude, it’s Midland. Anyway, I heard he’s been in counseling for months with Miss Granger. Maybe you should think about getting a new counselor.”
I try to play it off, but I can’t believe Miss Granger didn’t tell me. I know she said she’d been keeping an eye on all the Preservation Society kids, but why wouldn’t she have told me about it when we were talking about Ali being in counseling? She said she didn’t tell me because she didn’t know if she could trust me. Does she still not? It makes me wonder, what else is she keeping from me?
Dale’s snapping his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Clay.”
“What?” I bat his hand away.
“I need the real dirt … you and Ali?”
I glance over at her. She’s leaning against Tyler’s car with the others. She smiles at me, but not in a creepy way. Her face is soft, almost wistful. It’s hard to believe she’d ever be mixed up in something like this.
She’s wearing a Pioneers T-shirt with a pair of faded Levis.
“Hey, that’s my shirt,” I murmur. She stole it from me a couple years back to use as a sleep shirt, but I’ve never seen her wear it in public. It has my number on it and everything.
“That’s a sign, you dumbass,” Dale says, as he stands next to me. “She’s basically saying she wants you all over her body.”
Maybe it is a sign, but not like Dale thinks. Maybe she’s trying to give me some kind of secret signal.
“So, you’re just going to stare at her from across the lot? That’s pathetic, man. Even for you. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Dale says as he takes off after some freshman girls, clucking at them like a chicken. For some godforsaken reason they seem amused.
As I make my way over to Tyler’s car, I’m thinking about what I’m going to say to Ali—to any of them—but it turns out I don’t have to say anything at all.
“Get in.” Tyler swings his door wide open, blocking my path.
“What? Now?” I look around. “First bell’s about to ring.”
“Let’s call it a sick day.” Ben comes up behind me, slapping me hard on my shoulder.
“We just want to talk,” Tammy says as she gets in the backseat, never once taking her eyes off the ground in front of her.
I look to Ali. She gives me a reassuring smile.
“Yeah, okay … sure.” I swallow harder than I’d like. “Just let me put my bag in the truck.”
As soon as I turn away from them, a shuddering breath escapes my lungs. Sheer panic starts taking over—my eyes are watery, my throat’s bone dry. I clutch the keys in my hand, the metal notches digging into my palm, and I’m thinking I could just take off … get in my truck and keep going. But where could I possibly go? Everything I love, everything I am, is right here in Midland.
I lean in my truck, pretending to stash my bag under the seat, while I frantically text Miss Granger. They want me to go with them. In Tyler’s car. What do I do?
As I’m waiting for a response, I peer up at them over the steering wheel. My heart’s pounding in my chest. There’s a part of me that’s telling me, screaming at me, to keep my distance until the exorcism. I did my part, now it’s time to let the church take care of this … but there’s Ali. I don’t think I have the strength to walk away from her.